Brutes Clan: Sisters 2

They didn’t win, but they were far from last. Top five at the very least, but none of the Sisters felt they were finished. They looked around them to see a good chunk of the crowd dispersing to go back to their lives and jobs. However, these three were visitors and still had the energy to keep fighting. 

Zarod smiled at their enthusiasm. 

“I’ll be your next challenge.” She spoke clearly and confidently. “Try to take all the rocks away from my pile.”

“Three against one hardly seems fair.” Kaimana spoke smoothly as she and her sisters circled the Haedian. 

Zarod gave the white empyrian a sharp look. 

“I guess we’ll see then.” Zarod replied and laid her large tail out. Her strategy was simple. She could keep two in her periphery and her tail would sense the motion of the third. Zarod felt she’d have the advantage given how her hands and feet were more manageable than her challengers. 

Cheiro smiled, a twisted smile. Her eyes glowed red as a sign her magic was coming forward. Nightmares and shadows are what she traded in. She felt portions of her body fade and vaporize into her shadow. She had hoped to see some fear from the confident Haedian, but the steadfast tyrian didn’t seem bothered by what Cheiro’s illusions were showing her. 

Furor and Kaimana watched as Cheiro launched her attack and failed to throw Zarod off. Furor couldn’t add much in the way of magic, but she could add a layer of fog over their battle ground. With the fog surrounding them all they had to rely less on sight and more on their other senses. 

“Whatever you’re playing at won’t work.” Zarod taunted the topsiders as the fog grew thicker. 

Kaimana shifted into her ghost form. When she couldn’t be seen her voice was the most chilling thing about her. An ethereal chord mixed something cold and sinister is how any of the reoseans would describe her laughter in that moment. No one, not even Kaimana’s siblings, could tell where her voice was coming from. Her laughter turned manically as it surrounded them and filled their ears.

Zarod, with the combination of all the indirect attacks, felt a chill run down her spine. She did her best not to let it show, but she closed her stance. This way she stood over her pile and could feel if any of the Sisters reached for the rocks. 

“I think it will work just fine.” A wicked alto voice whispered into Zarod’s ear, startling the haedian. It sounded like the voice was directly behind her, on her back. Zarod held fast, but she felt her resolve crumbling. Usually the contests were displays of physical strength. She wasn’t prepared for the relentless attacks of magic. 

Furor watched as her sisters took turns confusing the leader of the Brutes clan. It got to the point where Zarod didn’t seem to trust her ears or her eyes. She began swiping her large flat tail around her. At first glance, it looked like Zarod was moving with wild random movements, but as Furor watched she began to see a pattern. 

Furor kept low to the ground and moved in the opposite direction of her sisters. They moved clockwise around Zarod with their torment and Furor worked her way counter clockwise. She moved closer and closer until she could feel a light breeze of Zarod’s tail flying past her. Furor stayed where she was and timed out how much time she had between each sweep. Then she waited. 

Cheiro was in her shadow form, she looked like a dark cloud hanging around Zarod’s head as she whispered frightening thoughts to Zarod. Kaimana appeared like a bright white wisp and at first Zarod felt she was an angelic apparition that would bring her a moment of pause from the horrifying things Cheiro was whispering to her. 

However, she was greatly mistaken. While Cheiro told Zarod her worst fears and showed her them in visions. Kaimana brought stories of death and trauma. It took all Zarod had to focus on the task at hand and protect her pile. However, there was only so much the two could throw at her. Until eventually, the visions started to repeat and Zarod could break through the brain fog. Finally, she could focus.

Furor noticed that Zarod’s body was no longer rigid paralyzed with fear. If she didn’t start to take the stones they were never going to win. Furor’s hand flashed out to grab a stone and then another. She was throwing them haphazardly behind her, but in her rush she failed to see another change in Zarod. 

While Furor was busy taking the rocks, Cheiro and Kaimana doubled down on their distractions. However, the added effort only caused Zarod to become more frustrated. Zarod raised her tail and slammed it down with enough force to blow back the fog surrounding her. Zarod cursed under her breath that she hadn’t thought of it sooner. She did it again, but this time sweeping her tail with the purpose of clearing the fog. 

Zarod spotted Furor by her legs and with a flash of fury for what her sisters subjected her to she slammed her heavy tail into the unsuspecting empyrian. Furor felt the air rush out of her lungs as she was sent flying away from Zarod’s pile of golden nuggets. She landed in a heap and sluggishly started to sit up, but the hit broke her concentration on her spell. The fog immediately vanished. 

Cheiro emerged from her alternate form as she rushed to Furor. 

“Enough,” Cheiro called, “You win.”

“Never.” Kaimana countered, “This isn’t over.”

Furor coughed as she tried to take a full breath. Cheiro helped her younger sister to sit up completely and made sure she was settled before she turned to her other sister. 

“It’s over.” Cheiro, with glowing red eyes, glared at Kaimana. 

“We were winning.” Kaimana cried as she shifted out of her ghost form. 

Cheiro shook her head, “Zarod had broken out, our illusions weren’t working anymore.”

While they argued, Zarod was taking these moments to collect her thoughts and clear her mind. After a few deep breaths, Zarod spoke, “we can go again, but let’s try without the magic.”

The three sisters looked at each other and nodded. 

[1056]